July 2000 - JASPER Engines

News &
Updates
July 2000
Jasper Engines & Transmissions’ Drivers
Compete in Driving Competition
Inside . . .
Customer Profile
RT Clapp, Inc.
pg. 2
Layers of Strength
MLS Gaskets Have Arrived pg. 3
2001 Calendar Contest Info
pg. 5
Jacobs Electronics
“DIS” Ignition Systems
pg. 5
On the Technical Side
Crankshaft Polishing for
Today’s Engines
pg. 6
Published by:
Jasper Engines & Transmissions
P.O. Box 650
Jasper, IN 47547-0650
Phone: 1-800-827-7455
Fax: 1-812-634-1820
www.jasperengines.com
Five over-the-road drivers from
Jasper Engines & Transmissions’
transportation division, JET Transit,
recently participated in the Indiana
2000 Truck Driving Championships
held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds
June 2 & 3. Drivers competing for
JET Transit were Rick Fleck, Mark
Flynn, Ernie Mehling, Rich Mehling
and Dennis Schepers.
The Indiana 2000 Truck Driving
Championships allow some of
Indiana’s finest driving professionals
to compete against each other. The
top driver from each division
advances to the National Finals in
New Orleans in August.
Winners were determined by judging drivers in various areas of competition that consisted of the following:
a timed obstacle course with six
different driving maneuvers, an oral
interview, an eighty question written test and a timed pre-trip vehicle
inspection.
JET Transit drivers performed
well in competition among one
hundred drivers in their respective
divisions: Straight Truck — Rick
Fleck (6th place), 4-Axle Truck —
Rich Mehling (4th place), 5-Axle
Truck — Dennis Schepers (8th
place), 5-Axle Sleeper Truck —
Ernie Mehling (11th place), Tanker
Truck — Mark Flynn (10th place).
Jasper Engines & Transmissions
congratulates these professional
drivers for a job well done.
JASPER — Quality Products
delivered by Professional Drivers.
JET Transit drivers who participated in the Indiana 2000
Truck Driving Championships were: Back row (L-R) Mark
Flynn, Rick Fleck and Ernie Mehling. Front row: Rich
Mehling and Dennis Schepers.
Professional Car Care Centers, Inc.
d.b.a. RT Clapp of Knoxville & Oak Ridge
Since 1914, RT Clapp
Professional Car Care Centers has
taken care of customers’ complete
automotive needs. The company
started as a battery company in the
early 1900’s and has since developed into the premier electrical
repair/diagnostic service center in
the greater Knoxville area. With 18
service bays in Knoxville and 12
bays in Oak Ridge, as well as a staff
of 30 service professionals, RT
Clapp is one of the largest independents in the Knoxville region.
RT Clapp is a full service automotive center that provides services
ranging from oil, oil filter and lubrication to complete engine repair or
replacement for import and domestic cars, trucks and vans. ASE
Certified and AC Delco trained
technicians utilize parts vendors
chosen by the suppliers product
quality, reputation and delivery
convenience. RT Clapp is proud to
consider JASPER as the primary
supplier of remanufactured engines
and transmissions for their
customers. JASPER’s 36
month/75,000 mile Nationwide
Warranty, custom engine
installation kits, the “1-800”
telephone numbers for technical
support and pricing, and the quality
remanufacturing process are the
reasons for RT Clapp’s continued
expansion into the engine and
transmission replacement market.
In short, JASPER just makes it easy
to do business.
On the technical side, RT Clapp
utilizes Triad’s TSW operations
software with electronic parts and
labor cataloging to give customers
quick, concise estimates on major
repair jobs. In addition, Mitchell’s
On Demand DVD information
system supplies the service writers
and technicians with the needed
technical, maintenance and TSB
information.
RT Clapp business partners Rob Vandergriff, Valerie White and
Barry Scarborough, have been
using JASPER products since 1975,
and recognize the importance of
good service after the sale.
Whether it’s sales support, advertising or warranty repair, JASPER’s
staff will guide you through with
minimal delay.
RT Clapp’s philosophy is to “Do the Right Thing” in any circumstance and it begins
with product choices for use on customer vehicles. With automobile prices and
interest rates rising, customers are thinking twice about trade and more about
repair. RT Clapp’s plans are to strive to be and do the best, and they’re proud
JASPER can contribute to their plans.
2
Layers of Strength
Multi-Layer-Steel Head Gaskets
Have Arrived...and Survived;
Here’s How to Use Them Effectively
in Your Customers’ Engines.
More power per cylinder, significantly higher operating temperatures and thinner head and block
castings. Perhaps 20 years ago,
these three characteristics would
have been nothing less than a recipe
for disaster in a conventional automotive engine.
Today, they’re simply the recipe
for a stronger and more forgiving
head gasket - one capable of sealing
in spite of extreme horizontal and
vertical motion between the head
and block. Increased motion is
actually a result of several interrelated factors: Thinner, lighter cast
iron and aluminum cylinder heads
are more susceptible to thermal
expansion; modern computer controls have allowed OEM’s to
dramatically increase engine
efficiency and output; and, at the
same time, manufacturers have had
to reduce clamping forces to
prevent local stress points and
cylinder bore distortion. In other
words, a sealing nightmare.
Why multi-layer-steel gaskets
(MLS), and not one of the latest
generations of “composite” or
graphite gaskets? The shearing
action created by the head’s lateral
motion in many smaller, more powerful late-model engines can
destroy the core and facing of a
non-MLS gasket, while the head’s
vertical motion - occurring every
time the cylinder fires - overcompresses the layers in a conventional
gasket, creating localized escape
paths for combustion gases, oil
and/or coolant.
MLS technology is engineered
to withstand extreme casting
motion, higher combustion pressures and a wider range of operating temperatures. MLS gaskets
typically feature multiple solid steel
By Jerry Rosenquist and Lee Palmquist
Fel-Pro Gaskets/Federal-Mogul Corporation
layers, some of which are heattreated stainless steel separated by
and coated with a very thin rubber
layer. The layers are either
“active” - meaning they are engineered to absorb the motion
between the head and block - or
shim layers, which simply give the
gasket the appropriate compressed
thickness.
The number of layers in an
MLS gasket can range from two to
five, depending on the sealing
characteristics of the engine. In
general, the more layers, the
greater the motion the MLS gasket
is capable of accommodating.
The active layers of a Fel-Pro
MLS gasket feature precision-engineered, embossed beads at all critical sealing areas. This feature,
combined with the full-hard stainless steel material, helps the gasket
maintain contact with the head and
block and spring back to its proper
shape in spite of often-brutal
pounding.
Engineered for the aftermarket,
Fel-Pro MLS gaskets also incorporate a “stopper” layer featuring a
very strong primary combustion
seal created by folding the steel
back onto itself.
There’s one additional difference between OE-style and MLS
gaskets, and it’s an important one:
Fel-Pro engineers developed a
semi-cured (and very sticky)
rubber coating that enables the
Fel-Pro MLS gasket to seal effectively with surface finishes up to
60ra. An OE-style MLS gasket
requires a finish no rougher than
30ra for proper fluid sealability.
The Other Side of MLS
It’s no secret that MLS technology is more expensive than composite or graphite gaskets. The
reasons are simple: materials and
tooling costs. Rather than the
single perforated or solid steel core
found in a composite or graphite
gasket, an MLS gasket features as
many as five solid sheets of steel,
some of which are stainless steel.
In addition, the tooling required to
produce multiple layers of consistently shaped shims and precisely
positioned sealing beads is
tremendously more expensive than
conventional equipment.
So why have OEM’s continued
to migrate to MLS technology? In
short, they’re willing to pay the
price of a more expensive gasket
as long as it will enable them to
continue to reduce casting weight
while increasing power output. A
graphite or composite gasket in its
present form would be the weak
link in one of today’s high-efficiency engines; with MLS, the
gasket is one of the strongest links
- with projected service life reaching 150,000 miles or more.
The Remanufacturer’s
Challenge
Smooth and flat. That’s the
secret to achieving maximum sealing performance and service life
from an MLS gasket. Surface finish standards for conventional gaskets simply won’t provide an adequate seal when used with an
MLS head gasket.
The continuing evolution of
engine technology also is changing the way remanufacturer’s
select replacement gaskets.
Aftermarket composite or graphite
gaskets are ideal for a majority of
the engines. In their present form,
however, they do present limitations when used in MLS engines.
In particular, if an aftermarketengineered MLS gasket is available for a specific application,
that’s a strong indication that MLS
is the best way to ensure an effective seal. After all, if a conventional gasket could work in that
application, Fel-Pro and other
3
aftermarket manufacturers wouldn’t
have invested in the materials and
tooling to produce the MLS alternative. There may be instances, however, where a hybrid design featuring the conformability of a conventional gasket and the properties of
MLS would be appropriate.
The best bet is to rely on your
major-brand gasket manufacturer to
provide the right design for a specific aftermarket application. After
all, one design cannot be the cureall for every sealing challenge.
The bottom line in installing
MLS gaskets, of course, is achieving the proper finish and clamping
force. Without a finish of 50 to 60
Ra (for a Fel-Pro-manufactured
MLS gasket) or 20 to 30 Ra (for OE
and other aftermarket MLS
designs), the MLS gasket won’t be
able to conform and maintain a tight
seal as the head moves laterally and
vertically against the block. This is
a significant change in philosophy
compared to older gasket technologies, which need a little roughness typically 70 to 100 Ra - to get the
gasket to “bite,” and seal, against
the head and block.
The good news is that most
shops with a modern surface
grinder can achieve a finish of 20 to
30ra without investing in new
equipment. If you’re using a rotary
broach, contact your equipment
manufacturer for recommendations
on achieving a proper finish for an
MLS gasket; at a minimum, you’ll
probably have to alter the depth of
the cut and feed rate. Also make
the use of a profilometer a requirement on every MLS installation it’s an easy way to check your final
finish and avoid unnecessary, and
expensive, comebacks.
Clamping force is equally important: Follow the manufacturer’s
specifications religiously, and
always replace the head bolts where
required. The margin of error in
today’s engines is simply too narrow
to try to save a few bucks on
fasteners.
4
MLS technology has become a
popular sealing solution at the OE
level and among an ever-growing
number of quality-conscious
engine remanufacturer’s. It’s more
complex and expensive than composite or graphite technologies, but
provides the sealing performance
you’ll need on a growing range of
late-model, high-output engines.
And like most technologies
developed at the OE level, MLS
gaskets are now available in aftermarket-engineered designs that
simplify installation and maximize
service life. A good thing made
better; use MLS correctly and
you’ll see.
Gaskets with a “Brain.”
Just as MLS technology has
become the solution for many hardto-seal engines, other gasket concepts - some new, some not-so-new
- will one day earn a place in OEM
and aftermarket-repaired engines.
One of these ideas is the so-called
“smart” head gasket, which would
feature sensors along the combustion
seal. These sensors, in theory, would
transmit a never-ending stream of performance data to the engine’s computer to enhance operating efficiency.
The “smart” gasket hasn’t made it
into today’s engines primarily due to
cost, says Jerry Rosenquist, chief
engineer for Federal-Mogul’s Fel-Pro
brand.
“We explored smart gaskets back
in the 1980s, and could see a practical
use for them,” Rosenquist says. “It’s
essentially a concept that will be driven by OEMs - when they see a need
for that kind of technology, we’ve got
it. And we’ll adapt the technology to
solve aftermarket-specific challenges,
just as we have with MLS head
gaskets.”
Multi-layered steel head gaskets are engineered to withstand extreme casting motion, higher combustion pressures
and a wider range of operating temperatures. MSL gaskets
can range from two to five layers. Pictured above is a fourlayered gasket.
2001 Calendar Contest Deadline
September 17th
JASPER is seeking quality color
photographs of vehicles and equipment in which a JASPER gas or
diesel engine, transmission, differential or stern drive has been
installed, for its 2001 Calendar
Contest. Photo categories are
vehicles and performance-orienated
cars and trucks.
Entrants must submit a color
photograph, color slide or color
transparency (35mm or larger) and
a description of the vehicle or
application along with the JASPER
product that has been installed.
Vehicles should be placed in a
“show” type setting when
photographed. Polaroid pictures
will not be accepted.
Every entrant will receive an
autographed JASPER race hat. All
entries will be judged based on
adherence to category, equipment
appearance and the quality of the
photograph, slide or transparency.
Winners will be required to sign a
release consent form for photograph and name publication.
All entrants whose work appears
in the calendar will receive a Jasper
Motorsports race jacket and a $100
credit toward their next purchase of
an engine, transmission, differential
or stern drive. Honorable mentions
will receive a JASPER sweatshirt
and a $50 credit toward their next
purchase of one of the above mentioned products.
Entry deadline is September
17th, 2000. The contest is open to
all JASPER customers, distributors
and associates. Entries should be
mailed to:
Jasper Engines & Transmissions
P.O. Box 650
Jasper, IN 47547-0650
Attn: Abby Brelage
Jacobs Electronics
Announces “DIS”
Ignition System
The newest member of the
Jacobs Electronics ignition family
is the DIS or “distributor-less
ignition system.”
Developed originally for the
Ford Explorer, F-150 and
Expedition, and now released
across the full line of late model
Fords, the Jacobs Electronics DIS
system has produced impressive
gains in mileage and on-the-road
pulling abilities and has proven to
be a “must have” performance and
mileage enhancing accessory for
owners of these vehicles. GM and
Chrysler DIS units will be available
soon.
For additional information, call
1-888-ignition and be sure to
mention JASPER and the ATPA to
receive special discounts when
ordering.
Pictured here are a few of last
years contest winners. These
photos are example of the type of
setting and background that we
look for in choosing a winning
entry.
5
By Mark Hewitt
Crawford County Quality Control Department
On The Technical Side
Crankshaft Polishing for Today’s Engines
To be successful at engine
remanufacturing in today’s market
requires daily adaptation to new
and changing technology. New
engine design and improved aftermarket products are becoming
available at a pace that has never
been equaled in history. The company that thrives in this environment will welcome change and use
these new tools to provide a quality
product safer, quicker, and more
economically than ever before. An
emphasis on quality has to be
maintained to provide value to the
customer .
Crankshaft machining holds its
place as one of the most critical
areas in the remanufacturing
process. Cranks with a poor
journal (seal finish, excessive taper,
or out-of-round journals) will
undoubtedly fail when subjected to
the close tolerances of the high
output engine designed today.
Many improvements in crankshaft
machining technology, along with
closer attention to accepted procedures have made it possible to do
a very good job of meeting those
tolerances in a production environment.
The oil film present between a
crank journal and the loaded bearing surface is only about .00005
thick on a running engine.
Microscopic burrs on the journals
can gouge or scrape the bearing
from the initial start-up, causing
premature failure. All cast iron
cranks form ferrite burrs on the
surface when machined with sharp
edges facing either into or away
from the direction of crankshaft
rotation. When the crank is ground
and polished so that the burrs face
away, the shaft is said to be
machined favorably (see illustration
1). Although there is much debate
as to which is the proper orientation
for grinding, favorably or unfavor-
ably. The journals are generally
polished favorably in order to
assure that the burrs lay down and
away from the bearing surface during rotation. Forged steel cranks do
not form ferrite burrs when
machined, but it is the accepted
practice to polish them favorably as
well.
The measurement of surface
finish is performed with a
profilometer. This tool reads Ra,
which is the average roughness
height and is measured in increments of .000001 (1 millionth or
1 micro-inch). Crank main and rod
journals should measure 10 microinches or less when finished.
Crank seal areas must read between
10-20 micro-inches to provide a
good sealing surface.
Final surface Ra is a direct
result of the measured parameters
used during machining. The grinding stone should be dressed to
provide a surface finish above 18
and at or below 24 micro-inches
following the grinding process.
The journal surface can actually be
melted and smeared rather than
ground when the stone is too
smooth. Polishing cannot adequately correct this situation and
proper journal-bearing contact will
not likely be achieved. When the
shaft has been ground correctly,
polishing becomes a much simpler
Fig. 1
6
process.
The most popular polishing
machine design is the rotary belt
polisher. The belt polisher is the
standard machine, used exclusively
in the industry and by JASPER for
decades (see illustration 2). This
machine uses a soft abrasive continuous belt with different grit sizes
for various applications. The
machine turns the belt against a
rotating journal to remove stock
and provide an acceptable finish.
Some machinists use only one operation to finish the shaft, using just
one polishing belt in the #300 #500 grit range. It is preferable to
use a two step process (which
JASPER prefers), initially polishing
with a # 700 grit belt to remove
material and smooth the surface,
then finish polishing with a # 2500
grit belt to achieve an Ra finish
below 10 micro-inches. The twostep process gives an excellent finish while preventing taper and outof-round conditions.
Proper grinding and polishing
procedures, the right polishing belts
for the application, and the type of
machine can all affect journal
integrity. Use of these new tools
along with adherence to tested and
accepted machining practices will
result in a quality crankshaft, providing many miles of dependable
service in the remanufactured
engine.
F
Fig. 2
A new addition to
JASPER’s crankshaft polishing
department is a
state-of-the-art
QPAC brand
crank polisher.
The QPAC unit is
the same type
polisher used by
auto manufacturers, such as Ford
Motor Company.
Do You Remember What You Read?
So you say you read the JASPER News & Updates from cover to cover? Now you can see how much information
you’ve retained after you’ve read it. After you have answered the questions, simply clip out the coupon and send it to
us. Each month we will take all the correctly answered coupons and randomly draw one out. The winner will receive
a JASPER racing hat! Send to: Jasper Engines & Transmissions • P.O. Box 650 • Jasper, IN 47547-0650
Name
Address
City
State
Zip Code
Phone
JASPER News & Updates - July Issue
1. What was the best place finish for a JET Transit driver in the Indiana 2000 Truck Driving
Championships held June 2nd & 3rd?
2. What are MLS gaskets?
3. What is a “DIS” ignition system?
4. Final surface Ra is a direct result of the measured parameters used during machining. T or F
7
Prst. Std.
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Permit 49
Jasper, IN 47546
JASPER ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION EXCHANGE
815 Wernsing Road · P.O. Box 650 · Jasper, IN 47547-0650
e-mail: sales@jasperengines.com
JASPER
Branch &
Distributor
Locations
•
* Denotes Distributor
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ORLANDO*: 1-800-727-4734
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ATLANTA*: 1-800-727-4734
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CHICAGO: 1-800-827-7455
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JASPER: 1-800-827-7455
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COLUMBUS: 1-800-827-7455
Pennsylvania:
BRISTOL (Philadelphia):
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CHATTANOOGA: 1-800-827-7455
KNOXVILLE: 1-800-827-7455
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GRAND PRAIRIE (Dallas):
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Virginia:
RICHMOND: 1-800-827-7455
Washington:
BELLINGHAM* (Seatle)
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SOUTH CHARLESTON*:
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NEW BERLIN (Milwaukee):
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